Ari
WaSPG0LD@aol.com
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DARK ON THE OUTSIDE
(insert disclaimers here)
=====CHAPTER 19: FAREWELL AND GOODBYE=====
If there was any time to be sad, it was now. All the battles,
all the hardships, conflict, love, and friendship would now be in the
only form they could be in: memories.
Owen would be leaving for home in a couple of days.
When Amy had to hear the unfortunate news, she was, needless to
say, crushed. She had been crying for several minutes before Owen was
able to calm her down.
"I'm sorry Amy," he said, "I wanna stay just as much as you
want me to stay. But I have to go back." This is the saddest he's ev-
er seen Amy. And he felt even worse because he couldn't do anything to
cheer her up. "I know how hard this is for you; it is for me too. And
I realize now, more than ever, how much I'm gonna miss you."
Each day for the next week and a half went longer than the
next, and Owen was losing more and more sleep each night. He spent his
time visiting all of the places he had been in the past year. He visi-
ted all of the friends he made in such a wonderful country. He spent
most of his time with Serena and Reenie, Raye, Mina, Lita, and Darien.
The day before he was to leave, everyone threw him a very beautiful go-
ing away party.
That night, he and Amy spent one last night together....
TOKYO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
NOON, THE NEXT DAY
"Well everybody, this is it."
The emotion that day at the airport was thick enough to be cut
with a knife. It felt as if a part of them was getting on a plane and
flying eight thousand miles across the planet, and out of their lives.
Owen put down his carry-on bags and addressed his friends.
"I'm really gonna miss all of you very much." First, he went up and
hugged Lita. "Sorry things were rough at first between us. I'm just
glad we were be able to become friends."
"Thanks, Owen," Lita said.
"No problem. You're a great cook, by the way." He turned to,
and then hugged Raye. "I'm gonna miss you Raye."
Raye glanced over at Amy for a moment, then back to Owen. "Me
too, Owen. I'll watch out for her for ya."
Then he went to Mina. "Well, it's been fun."
She threw his arms around his neck. "I'll be thinking about
you always."
"I really appreciate it." As he went to Serena and Darien, he
saw that tears were forming in her eyes. He put an arm around each of
them at once. "You guys have been great."
"You've been great too," Serena said. "We won't know what to
do without you."
"Take care of yourself back home, Owen," Darien said.
"I will. As for you two, BEHAVE." After letting go of them,
he kneeled down in front of Reenie. "Well, I'm gonna miss you, little
one."
"I'll never forget you Owen!" she said, trying to hold back her
emotions. After hearing that, he took off his hat - the same one he
wore getting off the plane to Japan - and placed it on Reenie's head.
And that left Amy.... "Amy..."
"I don't know what I'm gonna do," she said, overcome to the
point where she just can't hold it back. "I, I don't know what to
say."
"I do," he said in a comforting voice. "Amy, you mean more to
me than anybody on the planet. Do you really think we'll be apart just
because I'll be nine thousand miles away? Is that it?" She looked up
at him, as she wiped away some tears. "Amy, I love you with all I am
worth. And there will always be a place in my heart for you. I'll be
thinking of you always, as you should me."
The blue-haired girl looked into his golden eyes again, this
time, bringing her lips to his for one last, passionate kiss. When it
broke, she spoke up. "Owen..." she started. "Will I *sniff* ever see
you *sniff* again? *hic*"
He wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, I'll be back someday. I
have a feeling that we'll see each other sometime in the near future.
If you ever feel you need to talk to someone, you can always call me.
Better yet, if you and your friends wanna visit, just let me know, OK?"
"I will, oh Owen I love you so much!" She threw herself into
his arms again, letting all of her tears flow."
"I'll be back someday. I promise." After he let go of her,
something that he so did not wanna do, he slowly made his way to the
tunnel leading to the plane. And as he walked, he shed a tear for his
beloved Amy.
I promise I'll be back, he thought to himself. I'll die before
I break THAT promise.
As the plane took off, Amy watched as it left the runway, and
flew off. Despite her friends' comforting, Amy couldn't have felt any
worse in her whole life than in that moment.
FLIGHT 2564, TOKYO TO PHILADELPHIA
AN HOUR LATER
The plush, first class seat gave no comfort to the heartbroken
Owen on the flight back home to America. All he could think of was the
looks on all their faces before they got on the airplane. As he drift-
ed off to sleep, he realized how much they loved him, and were going to
miss him.
A loud thud was heard. Owen's sleep was broken. How much time
had gone by? A minute? Hour? Day? Just then, the captain came on on
the intercom.
"Attention, this is your captain speaking," he said. "We have
stumbled into a little bit of turbulence." The 'fasten seatbelt' light
went on. "Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.
Thank you."
Owen's seatbelt was already on, so that wasn't worrying him.
It was a feeling that something bad was going to happen that was worry-
ing him. Later on, again, Owen didn't know exactly how long, another
loud, harder thud echoed through the cabin. He looked at the guy in
the row across from him, and watched his drink slide forward, off the
tray table and onto the floor. Then it hit him.
The plane was going down.
Owen grabbed onto the handrests and leaned back to prevent be-
ing thrown around the cabin. Many of the passengers were screaming.
The plane shook violently. Owen looked out the window to see that they
were flying through a storm. He felt another loud thump, and then eve-
rything went black....
More time passed. Owen had regained consciousness, but had no
idea where he landed. He also realized he couldn't move. He lie was-
ted on a slab of concrete a little distance from where the plane went
down. Being on his back, he could see very little. Out of the corner
of his eye, he saw the wreck of the plane, still smoldering. Some sur-
vivors dug through the wreckage, looking for any other survivors. He
also felt that some of his lower ribs were hurt bad, possibly broken.
Luckily, he heard paramedics arrive before he lost conciousness.
PHILADELPHIA
10 DAYS LATER
Seriously bad ribs, heartache and all, Owen finally made it
back home to America a broken man. Just let me get home, unpack, and
lay in bed for a couple of days.
When he got off the gate, he looked around for his parents.
But when he saw a sign with his last name on it, he instead found his
butler, a 50-year-old man, Sid. "Mosta Owen!"he said. "So glad to see
you, sir!"
"Hi, Sid," Owen said, unenthused.
"What's wrong, Mosta Owen?"
"I've just had a long flight, that's all. By the way, just
call me Owen. You heard about the plane that crashed in Witchita? I
was on that flight." He hung his head. "Plus, I'm pretty roughed up.
The doctor said it'll be a long time before these ribs heal." He lif-
ted up his shirt, and a large, blue and purple bruise - hard as a rock
- covering most of the right side of just below his chest.
"Oh dear." Sid's tone became sadder. Then, I'm afraid that I
have more bad news for you.
"Wh-what?"
"Your parents, Mosta Owen. They're dead."
"WHAT?!"
=====TO BE CONTINUED=====